Varik
A swordsman and the primary playable character. He is trapped in the underground ruins and must fight through them to escape.
How it plays
The game presents labyrinths from a first-person perspective. Varik moves through connected floor tiles, turns beside walls, searches rooms, opens passages, collects equipment, and solves environmental puzzles while looking for routes through the underground city.
Enemies appear in the same dungeon view and are fought in real time. The player manages weapons, armor, shields, magic, healing items, and equipment durability while advancing through multiple areas. Progress depends on exploration, finding keys and useful gear, defeating bosses, and learning safe routes through traps and hazards.
Plan your run
Explore methodically and keep track of unopened doors, dead ends, switches, and suspicious walls. In a first-person grid dungeon, orientation is easy to lose, so mapping each area and marking important routes is highly useful.
Avoid wasting durability and consumables on weak enemies when retreat is safer. Upgrade equipment whenever possible, preserve healing items for difficult encounters, and learn enemy attack ranges before committing to close combat. Save frequently before bosses and unfamiliar traps.
Meet the cast
A swordsman and the primary playable character. He is trapped in the underground ruins and must fight through them to escape.
A powerful sorceress connected to the game's central conflict and Varik's journey through the ruins.
Before you begin
Map the dungeon as you go; many routes and switches are easy to overlook.
Check equipment condition and keep backup weapons or defensive gear when available.
Use corners, distance, and retreat routes to control real-time fights.
Save before bosses and before entering unexplored sections.
Brandish is an action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom and released for the Super Nintendo in 1994. It places the player in control of Varik, a swordsman exploring the ruins of a dangerous underground city while searching for a way out and confronting the sorceress Alexis. The game uses a first-person, grid-based viewpoint rather than a conventional overhead map, giving movement and orientation a central role in exploration. Combat is real-time and emphasizes positioning, attacks, equipment, magic, and resource management. Its demanding dungeon design and unusual controls gave it a distinctive identity among console RPGs. The SNES version was well regarded for bringing Falcom's computer-style dungeon action to a home console, although its steep difficulty and unconventional interface could be divisive.
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